wrengðe

Middle English

Etymology

From wrong (“wrong, crooked”) +‎ -the (abstract nominal suffix), probably by analogy with strengthe and lengthe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwrɛnɡð(ə)/

Noun

wrengðe (uncountable)

1. (rare, hapax) The state or quality of being crooked; crookedness; distortion.
   • c. 1275, “Natura aquile”, in Bestiary 85 (British Library MS. Arundel 292)‎^[1], Norwich, archived from the original on 22 September 2022, folio 4, verso, lines 66–69; republished at London: British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts, c. 2010:

     ðanne goð he to a ſton. / ⁊ he billeð ðer on. / billeð til his bec bifoꝛn. / haueð ðe ƿꝛengðe foꝛloren.

     Then he goes up to a stone / and he scrapes [his beak] on it; / he scratches it until / his beak has lost its crookedness.

Descendants

• >? English: wrength
• >? Scots: wrength

References

• “wrengthe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.